Members of Occupy El Paso help by making poster signs and setting up a tent that has become the symbol of the Occupy movement. (Lourdes Marie Ortiz/Borderzine.com)

Protesters occupy UTEP raising concerns about student debt and unemployment

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EL PASO – In an effort to voice concerns about student loan debt and unemployment, dozens of students set up camp during Occupy College Month in February at the University of Texas at El Paso

“We are here to raise awareness, promote reform, and motivate action,” Orlando V. Cordova, member of Occupy El Paso, said. He added this is also an effort to promote change away from social, political and economic injustices. In support of the National Day of Action for Education, members of the Occupy movement organized the event and sold donated books to raise funds. “I am here because I am one of the 99 percent,” said David McKenny, president of Miners Without Borders. “Students need to become the educated population in order to compete in the market.” According to its website, Miners Without Borders was organized “to look beyond borders, especially the current situation in Cd.

The El Paso Occupiers mingle next to Los Lagartos sculpture. (Luis Hernández/Borderzine.com)

El Paso’s Occupy movement seeks justice, but their expectations may be too great

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EL PASO – There are small herds of them scattered between the trees, some shirtless and tanned from the sun, sitting around in cozily crammed circles that are set-up between their tents along with various handwritten signs they have made and carried for weeks. I went into the San Jacinto Park completely convinced that I would be called to join their ranks of Occupy El Paso and come out smelling like the downtown streets of El Paso. I thought that they would try to convert me and convince me to go pro-hippy, sleeping in the grass with them, and laughing over text messages out loud to each other while a siren goes streaking by, but that’s before I stumbled into the red and white-striped food tent and got a taste of humility. In the food tent, I timidly approached a man in a tan sun hat, with clear blue eyes that wrinkled when he proudly told me he had been Occupying El Paso for 10 days. When he started talking about his story, I nearly joined the Occupy movement on the spot – but didn’t.

People from different walks of life are demanding change. (Luis Hernández/Borderzine.com)

Occupy El Paso movement decries economic and social injustice in America – Video

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EL PASO – Occupy El Paso demonstrators set up tents in the usually vacant San Jacinto Plaza in downtown as part of a national protest against perceived economic inequality and corporate control of government. Students, college graduates, homeless persons, professors, the unemployed and employed are few examples of individuals displaying their frustration about unemployment, the nation’s economic despair and the federal government’s bailout of banks. Fabiola Martinez, a young, courageous, and jovial woman was one of the many individuals expressing her feelings on how the government has treated its people. “The government is not paying attention to what the people want and need. They are oblivious to what we need; our school systems and health care are failing,” said Martinez.